


The Gorillaz Take Preschool

by sstuartniccals



Series: The Gorillaz Take: [1]
Category: Gorillaz
Genre: 2D is actually innocent, All of the teachers like Russel, Bullying, Child AU, Child Gorillaz, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Murdoc is a bully, Noodle is very intelligent for her age, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Russel and Del are BFFs, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2018-11-09 01:10:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11093760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sstuartniccals/pseuds/sstuartniccals
Summary: since I'm horribly American some things may not be correct and I apologize but I hope you kiddos have a fun preschool experience with the four we've come to adoreTHIS IS CURRENTY BEING EDITED, SOME CHANGES ARE BEING MADE





	1. Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the experience that I call "The Gorillaz Take Preschool," where your favorite group of four are young children who are preparing to enter the world; we're starting with preschool.  
> Their ages are as followed:  
> Noodle is two  
> Murdoc is four  
> Russel is four  
> 2D is four  
> I made all of the guys the same age because it seemed to make the most sense for me. Noodle is the youngest because it's canon that she's younger than everyone. This is a simple introduction to all four of the little ones, and I hope you enjoy. Much love!

Preschool is a fairly enjoyable experience for any young child, and of course not every child's experience is the same. For one group of four, preschool was very special. Because preschool was when it all began.

Stuart Pot was a creative young boy, and, though he was slow, he was very lovable. He loved to draw and paint and build with the wooden blocks, but sometimes the teachers were frustrated with him as he was very spacey and didn't pay much attention. Not many people could've blamed him, though, because he fell out of a tree that his parents were not easily helping him climb, he had probably fallen from other places as well, his family got into a car crash that he nearly died in, and another student had drove into him with a big-wheels Cadillac several times, all of which not only leading to his brain damage but blue hair and tar-black eyes due to hyphema. The kid who hit him with the toy Cadillac...

Young Murdoc Niccals was hyperactive little boy who wasn't always the nicest to his fellow students. As said, he hit Stuart with a rideable toy car. He was talkative, noisy, rarely paid any attention to the adults. Often, he turned up smelling of whiskey and with hidden bruises. He would steal children's money for snacks and use them for his own. He seemed to have bullied the boy that he ran over into being a part of his group, and he recruited two others who joined more willingly. One of the two......

Russel Hobbs, a teachers' favorite. A little boy who was normally quiet unless he was tapping his crayons on the table as if they were drumsticks. He wasn't very quick to raise his hand to answer questions, even though he knew what to say. He loved music, and was best friends with another little boy, Del, but he sat at Murdoc's table. The last of the four...

A little Japanese toddler named Noodle. One of her parents was born in England and the other in Japan, and they had already taught her a lot. She had to learn both English and Japanese at once. She could almost completely read 'The Cat in the Hat' in both languages, which was far ahead most of the children in the class of four year olds. She was the brains of the equation, hands down.

All four of them had the most strange chemistry. Stuart and Murdoc often had their little fights, though it was really nothing major. Prepare yourself, because these four will wreak plenty of havoc in one whole year of preschool. Make sure to have fun, kids.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to those who actually took interest! The very first chapter, huh? Impressive that I've actually gotten past the introduction, I know. These notes are going to be less lengthy as the story goes on, maybe even non-existent, I'm not sure. These are purely experimental in this stage, preschool. I will be going by mainly American terms as they are what I'm comfortable with, if it wasn't obvious. Okay, I'm going to stop mulling over the notes and actually write the important thing: the actual chapter. Enjoy!

Stuart's mum had dropped him off at exactly 6:50 a.m., as she had needed to get to work early and his father had needed sleep after staying up all night on some project of his. Stuart was always one of the earliest kids there. Only few showed up at six o' clock, some kids Stuart didn't talk to much in a simple lack of interest. Really, his "friends" were who interested him. Little Stu wasn't sure if he should consider Murdoc his friend. Murdoc was always kind of mean to him. Russel and Noodle were always pretty nice to him, though. Russel and Noodle were fun.  
They would normally show up around seven or so. Stuart didn't know that for a fact, it was just what Ms. Weddleton always said when he asked. Stuart didn't really know how to tell time. Then again, Stuart didn't know how to do much.  
"What time is it now, Miss Weddleton?" He would ask, feeling that 7:00 a.m. must be hours away, even though it was only really ten minutes from when he arrived.  
"6:58," the teacher would respond, a young lady with orange hair and a storm of freckles across her face. "Noodle should be arriving soon, if she's feeling well enough."  
Noodle was nice. She listened well, and she didn't try to knock down Stuart's block towers or push him or take his food. Noodle would sometimes want to help him build his towers, or his castles, or sometimes she would drag him to the toy animals. Stuart didn't mind playing animals, even if he had to be the smelly pig or things like that. He had to do what Noodle liked to do sometimes. That's what his mum always told him, anyways.  
Bored, he stared out of the front window, keeping watch for the mini-van owned by Noodle's parents, or the silver Toyota that Russel's parents drove. Russel said he was from America. Stuart said that he wasn't quite sure what an America was. Murdoc called him an idiot.  
Murdoc! He was arriving! The public transport he normally took had pulled in. It seemed like his older brother Hannibal had taken him again. Hannibal walked in behind Murdoc, kicking him slightly to get him inside quicker. Murdoc had short legs, unlike Stuart, who had earned the title of tallest in the class.  
The first thing Stuart thought the first time he saw Murdoc was something his mother told him all of the time. 'His hair is a mess!'. He wondered what came to mind when Murdoc saw him. Probably something mean, Stuart had decided.  
Hannibal hit the front counter with his fist and left without a word. Where his fist made contact was the small fee that was required for children to stay over the course of the day. One of the office workers had scribbled down Murdoc's name on the list of kids for Hannibal. Maybe he had forgotten. More likely he just didn't care.

"Good morning, Murdoc!" One of the office ladies, Mrs. Holly, a kind old woman, called out cheerfully as she returned to her seat where she set down her paperwork.  
Knowing he would be sent to time out and not be able to do anything if he didn't, Murdoc grudgingly replied, "Good morning, ma'am."  
He couldn't deny that the people here were nice to him. They got angry when he did the wrong thing, and they couldn't really help it. Besides, an adult raising their voice at him and a trip to the chair in the corner of the brightly decorated class wasn't anywhere near the worst thing he had experienced. No, not anywhere close.  
Stuart was standing at the window. Had he been waiting for him? Probably not him specifically. Nobody waited for him. He had waited for someone, and sometimes he still did. But one day he would have to accept that his mother would never return.  
For whatever reason, examining Stu and pondering him waiting had made him realize that both of his eyes were pure black after the car crash he had endured. He had two big dents right in his head.  
"Why don't you boys go and play in the classroom?" suggested Mrs. Holly.  
Then, both of the boys began walking to the classroom. It was a good idea from Mrs. Holly, so they took it and did it. In the classroom, Murdoc decided to point out his eyes. He didn't know if it would upset Stuart or not, but he didn't really care.  
"Hey, 2D, go get out the blocks, would you?" Murdoc asked.  
It took the blue haired boy a moment to realize Murdoc was talking to him. It took the teacher a second, too.  
"Why're you calling him 2D?" asked Ms. Weddleton curiously.  
"'Cuz he's got two dents in his head," Murdoc said in a matter-of-fact way. "See? One, two." He counted, pointing at each one of his eyes. 2D's eyes. Murdoc would be calling him it whether he approved or not. He quite liked the sound of it.  
"Brilliant!" 2D exclaimed. He had approved, apparently.  
"Hm," Ms. Weddleton had mumbled. "Interesting nickname."  
When the teacher was out of earshot, Murdoc snapped, "Well? Blocks?"  
2D raced off to get the multi-colored wooden blocks. Maybe this would be even more fun for him, he had thought.

2D had grabbed the blocks and gotten them back to Murdoc by the time Noodle was dropped off. She was sitting on one of the chairs that she had climbed on, her little legs swinging as she colored with a blue crayon. She kept looking up at 2D and then back down. He wasn't sure why.  
Murdoc had let 2D help him build. He could only get the blocks up to a certain height, and 2D had longer arms to get the blocks higher. 2D was glad to help. He was more confused than usual. Why was Murdoc acting so strange? He had given 2D his nickname, let him help build, and even offered to share his snack later if 2D would give him some of his. He wasn't sure, but he didn't exactly want it to change.  
Russel had joined Noodle at their table, his metal Power Rangers lunch box in his cubby. He sat almost as tall as 2D, but that was about where the similarities ended. He said he was African-American, and 2D had again said that he had no clue what that meant. Through his eyes, Russ was just another kid, and really that's what he was. 2D wouldn't have understood why people would act differently to Russel's family if they ever did. They were just people. If they were dog thieves or 'summfink', he would understand. You can never trust a dog theif. He had heard that they're worse than cat burglars.  
Russ was drawing, too. Abandoning Murdoc, 2D sat down next to Noodle and picked out a crayon, too. He scribbled down random designs, alternating colors. Finally, Murdoc sat down across from him and grabbed a paper of his own. He drew what looked like a guitar eventually. Russel had drawn a boombox of some sort, and lastly was Noodle's drawing. She had made a scribbly 2D. 2D smiled, showing off his lack of front teeth. He was hoping that they would grow in soon.  
He looked at what he had made. It looked like a vandal had made it. It was up to his standards, he had decided. And maybe this day would be, too.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry I suck so much at updating crap but I swear I'll work on

It was time for class to start soon enough. As the teacher announced, they would be talking about imaginary friends. 2D didn't know what imaginary meant. The teacher said she meant the friends only he could see. Everyone could see Murdoc, Russel, and Noodle, so they weren't imaginary. Hmm... Did he have one? He wasn't sure. Noodle said a few of the words in English she knew almost immediately.  
"Cat!" She called out proudly.  
"Wonderful, Noodle!" Ms. Weddleton exclaimed. "What's the cat's name?"  
"Moon!" Noodle responded brightly. "Moon kitty!" The little girl smiled happily.  
Ms. Weddelton turned to 2D. "And you, Stuart?" She asked.  
2D blinked. "It's 2- It's 2D, ma'am. And I don't have a mag'nry friend," he responded.  
"Ok." The teacher turned to Murdoc. "You?"  
"I dunno," Murdoc shrugged.  
Russel looked down at his paper that he had drawn a picture on, grabbed a goldfish cracker, and blinked at the teacher. "You should probably head to the next table, ma'am. 'cuz I don't got a imaginary friend."  
As the teacher walked off, Murdoc snatched a handful of skittles off of 2D's plate, and replaced it with a handful of dry cheerios. 2D was still lost. Why was Murdoc being so friendly, he wondered. Not that he minded. No, a friendly Murdoc was better than an angry one.  
Noodle held out a tiny hand to each person, asking silently for some more snacks. Each boy deposited one of each snack into the toddler's palm. She paused a moment, and shouted a "thank you" before snacking on the various foods she had acquired. If only everyone could be as happy as Noodle was all of the time. Though, that might be dangerous. That much happiness in the world would be difficult to handle.

The entire day went by at a shocking speed for Noodle. Then again, her whole life went by fast. She would probably drive race cars when she got older or something. The bubbly little girl loved race cars. Race cars, cats, and guitars. Her parents bought her a little guitar for kids her age. Maybe, rather than a driver, she'd be a rockstar in a super famous band. That would make her parents proud. Anything would when it came to this little baby girl. She was a natural performer, intelligent beyond her years. She was perfect. The daughter any parent would want. Energetic, kind, loving, hopefully she wouldn't grow out of this. She looked up to the group of boys she was welcomed into as if they were her idols. Perfect friends for her to have, all different boys from different backgrounds with different ways of acting. The diversity of the little group of children held more diversity than some groups entirely composed of adults. And teachers commented that, though he wasn't always the nicest to the three, they were the people Murdoc got along with the best. Noodle was probably a part of it. Noodle was like everybody's little sister, everyone and anyone could have fun around Noodle save the occasion she was a bit too bossy in her games. At the end of the day, however, she was falling asleep in her car seat, lulled off to any song on the radio. Maybe tomorrow would be fun too!

Russel went back home tired out too. He didn't fall asleep in his booster, but as soon as he got into his soft cozy bed he was out like a light. The games were tiring, and he couldn't sleep during naptime. Russel wasn't sure why, he just didn't. He was happy to be home, back from the yelling children and other chaos. He hadn't seen Del. Maybe he was sick or something. Russ didn't put much thought into it. Del was a pretty tough kid. He was fine, he didn't even need his parents to tell him that. 

2D was happy to be tucked into his red car bed that he had begged his parents for. He told them all about the day, and about his new nickname. His mother had said something about how he'd always be her wittle Stu-Pot, but he didn't mind. That was just Mum. Dad hadn't gotten back home yet, unfortunately. 2D was tucked in and asleep within seconds. He had good dreams that night. Not a single nightmare dared show its face in 2D's tiny brain.

Murdoc was stuck in the preschool an hour after he was supposed to be. Hannibal was late in picking him up as usual. As soon as the older boy had shown up, he was already shouting at Murdoc to hurry up so they could get back to their place of living. Not necessarily a home. Homes are where you're supposed to feel safe and welcome. Murdoc felt neither of those in Sebastian Jacob Niccals's house. Maybe Murdoc would find a home one day. He hoped to whatever forces existent that he would.


	4. Chapter 3

Noodle had not been wrong in the hopes that the next day of preschool would be fun. If one were to ignore the fact that Noodle always had fun with the other children, they'd be impressed surely. But alas, Noodle had a way of getting along with everyone when she was a toddler. Everyone, adults and children alike, enjoyed Noodle's company. And if she was mean or bossy, they couldn't stay mad since she was such an adorable little girl. She bounced happily in her car seat as she was driven to the preschool.

Russel was the first to arrive at the place. His parents dropped him off, signed him in, gave him kisses goodbye and left. He took up the place of 2D by the window, and blankly watched for his friends to arrive. He was never really the first to get there, so his knowledge of what everyone's ways of transportation was limited. Nevermind it. He watched intently, waiting patiently.  
He smiled brightly at the little girl who bounced up to the door. Noodle had arrived. When she was allowed inside, she ran up to Russel and hugged him. She giggled cheerfully.  
"Hey," Russel said, his smile gentle.  
"Hallo!" Noodle chirped happily. It was almost unreal how she was always so excited about everything. How joyful she always was.  
Russel glanced at the littler girl. She was grinning widely, her smile bright enough to light up a whole room. It was adorable, extremely adorable.  


2D came running in not too long after Noodle had arrived. The blue haired boy bounded up to the two other children.  
Noodle smiled wider when she saw him. She poked Russel and then pointed at 2D.  
Russel grinned at 2D. "Wonder how long it'll take for Mudz to get here."  
"Dunno," 2D responded with a shrug.  
"I'm not gonna wait out here," Russel stated. "I'm getting my snacks."  
"Snacks!" Noodle exclaimed.  
Russel led Noodle to the snack line, and soon after 2D assumed his position by the window. Watching. Waiting.

Murdoc never showed up. 2D would've stayed there, staring blankly through the glass, all day long. But after a while, he was herded into the classroom for playtime. The entire little group seemed confused by his absence, but the day persisted. Playtime, snack time, nap time. 2D laid awake wondering where his comrade was. After was an extra hour or so of playtime, but still no Murdoc. And as he watched the groups of children dissipate, he couldn't help but wonder what had kept Murdoc home.

Murdoc laid in his crummy excuse for a bed, his body rigid and hurting. The world spun. He couldn't remember what it was that he had done. Despite that, he definitely remembered angering the hungover sod who was only really his father because of birth relation. He didn't understand why his mother had to get him stuck there. Why didn't she want him?  
He must've done something wrong. Murdoc always ended up doing something wrong. He must've mucked something up. If only he could go back in time, so then he could stop his mother from getting rid of him. Talk her into it. At least talk her out of delivering him to Sebastian Jacob Niccals. An orphanage would've better, or to literally anyone else.  
And he'd missed the chance to go to the one place he actually enjoyed. The one place where people actually cared about him.  
One day, his father would get it. He'd get what he deserved. Karma was a cruel mistress, whoever Karma was.


	5. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Abuse mentions  
> sweet lord i'm so sorry that i haven't updated in so long. this chapter's a little short but i need something to keep it moving! love y'all  
> also i'm saying primary school rather than elementary because british. i might make phase 2 primary and then clump 3 and 4 into secondary

The little group hadn't seen Murdoc for over a week until finally the little green boy showed up. He was weak and pale and looked tired, but was still aggressive. Maybe even more than he was before.  
2D, when first seeing him was excited. But upon seeing the state of Murdoc, he was concerned.  
"You okay?" 2D asked adorably.  
"Shut up, I'm fine!" Murdoc snapped bitterly. Obviously, though, he wasn't. But 2D didn't try to press him for an explanation. If Murdoc didn't want to talk, he wouldn't force him to.  
"Noodle drew a picture for you while you were gone," 2D added.  
"....Oh." Murdoc hadn't really thought of any of them much while he was gone, curled up in his room. He couldn't help but smile, though he wished he didn't. "I'm sure she'll be glad to see me..."  
And Murdoc would be glad to see Noodle as well. He'd missed that cheerful feeling of simply being around the little one for days. She was so upbeat, so bouncy and playful and full of joy that on occasion it felt like it was contagious. It was better then a cold, though, that was for sure.  
The more he thought about it, he didn't even really know Noodle's actual name. She just called herself Noodle, and everyone else started doing it, too. It made a bit of sense. She was small, a little skinny, and she wiggled around like a living noodle. No point in questioning it, he supposed.  
Suddenly, her loud, cheerful voice echoed throughout the room. "Murdoc!"  
Murdoc had to brace himself as Noodle ran at him with her arms wide and nearly tackled him in a hug. He nearly panicked, fearing that he'd be hurt, but a little voice in the back of his brain calmed him. It was just Noodle. Just Noodle trying to give him some comfort. So he let his body ease a bit, though when she saw him she decided upon being gentle.

Once Russel had finally arrived, the group was all together again. Sharing snacks, drawing pictures, building high high towers of blocks as normal. It was as if Murdoc had been there with them the whole time. And he never wanted to go back home. The little classroom with his three best friends was the only place he needed, he'd decided.  
He drank thirstily from a carton of milk and munched on one of the oreos 2D had given him eagerly. He hadn't had milk and cookies in too long, and, though he wouldn't dare admit it, was so glad and grateful for his blue haired friend's kindness. And, even though he was awful to a lot of the other kids, they all seemed happy to see him back.  
Ms. Weddleton stood in front of the class and glanced around, calling out for all the children to settle down. "It's almost summer. Does anyone know what that means?"  
Russel tentatively raised his hand, but another kid shouted out the answer before he could get picked to talk.  
"We get to go to primary school!" The child shouted out.  
"That's right," their teacher said happily. "You all get to move on. You'll learn a lot more and it'll be great fun."  
Panic struck Murdoc. Summer meant more time he'd be forced to spend with his father and Hannibal. Summer meant he'd rarely eat, leave the house, or see his friends. A vulnerable time where he'd keep to his room as much as possible, steal food from the kitchen when his father was out cold, and be stuck performing at dumb bar talent shows to get his dad more money for his alcohol. A shudder made its way through him and he hoped they'd just think he didn't want to go to primary school. Really, he just didn't want to go back home. He couldn't run away, he couldn't say a word to another soul or he'd be dead.  
Then 2D was smiling at him and he was drawn from his thoughts. "Aren't you excited? That sounds like fun."  
Murdoc nodded but shuddered again. "I don't like summer," he murmured. Then, when he noticed everyone's eyes on him, he added, "It's always so hot. We don't have anything to cool down our house." Then the curious eyes were all gone from him. All but 2D's blank dents in his face.  
"I'm sure my mum wouldn't mind if you visited-" He began, but Murdoc cut him off.  
"I couldn't," Murdoc muttered. "Too- Too busy, you know?"  
2D nodded, though he hadn't stopped being confused.

The day ended as quickly as it had begun, and, while watching his friends get picked up by their parents, he began to wish that his family would just forget he existed and leave him there.


End file.
